CARDINAL CLASSIC XII: Beware the Esker
Stanford University
February 2, 2002
Packet by SUK (Stern, Usher, Katine)
Toss-Up Questions
1. In this play's second act, a naive lab assistant named Miller punches the corrupt industrialist Fayette (*) in the face for suggesting that he spy on his superiors. The play begins with Harry Fatt assuring a committee that President Roosevelt is looking out for their interests, after which Joe says that the title character has "more guts than a slaughterhouse." FTP, identify this play based on a taxi strike by Clifford Odets.
Answer: Waiting for Lefty
2. In mathematics, this letter refers to the canonical line bundle of top-degree differential forms on a manifold, and also to a co-homology theory of vector bundles on which the Atiyah-Singer Index (*) theorem is based. In physics, it refers a particle that decays in a way violating parity conservation. FTP, name this letter also used to refer to the force constant of a spring and to Boltzmann's constant.
Answer: K
3. He lost power in the last of several referenda he put forward requiring voters to choose between one of his reform proposals and his resignation. The author of a 1934 book opposed to the Maginot line, (*) he was sentenced to death in absentia after fleeing to England in 1940. FTP, name this leader who ended the Algerian War after designing the Fifth French Republic, who earlier led the Free French Forces during World War II.
Answer: Charles de Gaulle
4. She founded the Central Hindu College at Voransi in 1898 and organized the Indian Home Rule League. She was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1917. In 1879, the courts took away her children (*) in response to her unconventionality and atheism. FTP, name this noted theosophist, who, in 1926, proclaimed the Indian mystic Jiddu Krishnamurti the new messiah.
Answer: Annie Besant
5. It dates from 1912, when a number of papers reacting against the atomistic orientation of previous theories of perception were written by its founders, Kurt (*) Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler, and Max Wertheimer. FTP, name this early 20th century school of psychology, which maintained that the whole of anything is greater than the sum of its parts.
Answer: Gestalt
6. In a subplot, Bradley Headstone and Eugene Rayburn vie for the love of Lizzie (*) Hexam, whose father Gaffer had misidentified the corpse of a ship's mate. Wooden-legged, blackmailing Silas Wegg works for Noddy Boffin, who adopts the formerly-betrothed Bella Wilfer after inheriting a dust-heap fortune. FTP, name this last completed novel by Dickens in which the title character is the disguised John Harmon.
Answer: Our Mutual Friend
7. In 2001, IBM placed gates on them, making them transistors in the world's most efficient logic circuit. (*) Easy to fabricate from a high voltage discharge in the presence of hydrocarbons, they were not isolated until the 1990s, when their remarkable mechanical and electrical properties quickly made them the object of worldwide research. FTP, what are these narrow, rod-shaped objects?
Answer: carbon nanotubes
8. One cause was a dispute over holy places in Palestine. The only reason the Savoyards participated (*) was the boost their international status. At the end, southern Bessarabia was ceded to the Ottomans and the Black Sea was turned into a neutral body of water. FTP, name this war fought by Russia against Britain, the Turks, and the French that featured the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Answer: Crimean War
9. This painting can be viewed today in Boston's Gardener Museum. In the background we see the extensive seascape and a mountainous shore. A putto on the back of a dolphin (*) appears to mimic the central figure as she is carried off, arms and legs flying, by Jupiter in the form of a garlanded white bull. FTP, name this mythologically-inspired Titian creation.
Answer: The Rape of Europa
10. Rick James, Phyllis Diller, and Frugal Gourmet Jeff Smith all cameo in the video for this band's recent single "Love You Madly," appearing alongside drummer Pete McNeal and (*) trumpeter Vincent di Fiore. Their latest album, Comfort Eagle, has maintained the success they found with songs like "Sheep Go to Heaven" and a remake of "I Will Survive." FTP, name this band whose Fashion Nugget featured the hit "The Distance."
Answer: Cake
11. The author based this work on an experience of his roommate Dr. Sugden, who found a corpse in the cabin (*) of the steamer Olive May. After the death of the title character, who hails from Plumtree, Tennessee, the persona realizes that "A pal's last need is a thing to heed" and hence hauls the body to the lake in his sleigh in order to perform the titular action. FTP, name this poem about gold miners in the Yukon by Robert Service.
Answer: The Cremation of Sam McGee
12. Members of this order do not have acid-producing glands in the stomach and have a cloaca with just one external opening. Members of the subclass (*) Prototheria, they are confined to Australia and New Guinea, and the first stuffed specimens brought to England were assumed to be fakes made by mixing reptile and mammal remains. Consisting of two-species of echidna, FTP, what is this order of egg-laying mammals?
Answer: Monotremata or monotremes
13. In May 1864 Grant tried to invade Virginia (*) and work his way towards Richmond. Lee engaged him on May 4th and 5th with heavy casualties on both sides, but Grant refused to be shaken as had McClellan in 1862. FTP, Grant pressed on towards Spotsylvania Court House in what battle named for Virginia's desolate hinterland?
Answer: Battle of the Wilderness
14. This artist's animal-themed works include Self Portrait with Monkey and The Little Deer, in which an animal with her face and a deer's body is pierced with several arrows. Influences on her painting included a bus (*) accident in which a metal handrail drove through her stomach as well as her numerous affairs with the likes of Andre Breton's wife, Leon Trotsky, and her husband. FTP, name this unibrowed wife of Diego Rivera.
Answer: Frida Kahlo
15. A 1983 movie with this title is a 3-D comedy featuring Steve Guttenberg, who discovers an invisibility potion. (*) The same title was used by a 2001 movie in which the man that Frankie Riedenschneider defends in the Creighton Tolliver murder case had actually killed Ann Nirdlinger's husband after discovering his wife Doris' infidelity. FTP, name this latest Coen Brothers film featuring Billy Bob Thornton.
Answer: The Man Who Wasn't There
16. His novel Headlong was a candidate for the 1999 Booker Prize, but this versatile writer is better known as a playwright. Until recently, he was best known for the farce (*) Noises Off, but he has achieved greater renown from a recent, far more cerebral, play. FTP, name this Brit, a winner at the 2000 Tony Awards for his play Copenhagen.
Answer: Michael Frayn
17. It was named in 1835 by Adam Sedgwick after the Roman name for Wales. (*) The only plant life was marine algae but bryozoans, brachipods, mollusks and trilobites all flourished. It spanned approximately 70 million years ending around 500 million BCE. FTP, name this first period in the Paleozoic Era.
Answer: Cambrian Period
18. When this ruler executed servant Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi on suspicion of espionage, her French hosts pulled out of a conspiracy that would have given her the throne of Naples. (*) She lived most of the second half of her life in Rome, where she and Cardinal Decio Azzolino were lovers, having shocked Europe by her abdication in 1654. Often blamed for the death of Rene Descartes, FTP, who is this queen of Sweden?
Answer: Christina Vasa
19. Books 8 and 9 deal with friendship, while books 2 through 5 deal with moral virtue. The last book insists that happiness (*) in the highest sense is the contemplative life, but acknowledges the importance of legislation, a problem to be taken up in the author’s Politics. FTP, name this work on ethics edited by and named for Aristotle's son.
Answer: Nichomachean Ethics or Ethica Nicomachea
20. In 1923, he won both the U.S. and the PGA Championship, and is one of 5 men to earn a career grand slam. Inventor of the sand wedge, (*) his most spectacular shot came at the Masters when, in 1935, he holed out a 4-wood on the par-5 15th hole. For several years, he along with Sam Snead and Byron Nelson were the opening pairing at the Masters. FTP, who is this golf legend, nicknamed the Splendid Squire?
Answer: Gene Sarazen
21. Its second owner was Sergeant Major Morris, who came into possession of it upon the death of its first owner. Morris gave it to Mr. White (*) of Lakesname Villa, who shortly received a payment of 200 pounds as the result of the death of his son Herbert. Its purpose was "to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow." FTP, name this title object from the short story by W.W. Jacobs.
Answer: Monkey’s Paw
22. A more general from of the secant method for solving non-linear equations bears this scientist’s name. Any fluid (*) with a linear shear stress-strain relation belongs to a group bearing his name. His law of cooling models convective heat transfer. FTP, name this scientist whose dynamics were replaced by Einstein’s relativistic dynamics.
Answer: Isaac Newton
23. In 1807 President Jefferson demanded restitution for this British policy, notorious from the Chesapeake(*)-Leopard Affair. FTP, what is this policy which ultimately caused the War of 1812, whereby the British stopped and searched American vessels to "reclaim" deserters and force them into the British navy?
Answer: impressment
24. He rescued Aeneas in order to make Fate run its course, but he helped the Achaeans because he did not receive payment for building the walls (*) of Troy. Later, his famous son was blinded by an Achaean, whose homecoming he delayed for years. FTP, name this god of earthquakes who invented the horse and carried a trident, more famous as the god of the sea in Greek mythology.
Answer: Poseidon or Neptune
CARDINAL CLASSIC XII: Beware the Esker
Stanford University
February 2, 2002
Packet by SUK (Stern, Usher, Katine)
Bonus Questions
1. Name the following impressionist composers FTPE.
a)This composer experimented with a 21-note scale and wrote such pieces as Claire de Lune and La Mer.
Answer: Achille-Claude Debussy
b)He wrote such works as Spanish Rhapsody and the ballet Daphnis et Chloe, but he is perhaps most famous for his Bolero.
Answer: Maurice Ravel
c)This blind, syphilitic Englishman is remembered for such works as Koanga, A Mass of Life, and A Village Romeo and Juliet.
Answer: Frederick Thodore Albert Delius
2. Name these inflammatory conservative columnists FTPE.
a)This HIV-positive senior editor of The New Republic recently drew controversy for an article entitled "While Clinton diddled..." that blamed the September 11 attacks on Clinton's neglect of the terrorist threat.
Answer: Andrew Sullivan
b)This editor of FrontPage magazine stirred up controversy on numerous campuses by submitting a full-page ad opposed to slavery reparations to hundreds of college newspapers in early 2001.
Answer: David Horowitz
c)On September 12, this syndicated columnist infamously wrote, in reference to people who celebrated the attacks, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity."
Answer: Ann Coulter
3. Name these figures of speech FTPE.
a)This is conscious understatement in which emphasis is achieved by negation, as in "no mean feat."
Answer: litotes
b)This is a rhetorical device involving the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of several consecutive sentences or clauses.
Answer: (ep)anaphora
c)This is a type of metonymy in which the part is used to imply the whole or vice versa, as in the use of "hired hands" to refer to employees.
Answer: synecdoche
4. Name the following types of speciation FTPE.
a)This type occurs when two populations of a species become reproductively isolated as a result of being split into geographically separate habitats.
Answer: allopatric speciation
b)Similar to allopatric speciation, this type occurs when populations relocate into distinct but contiguous habitats.
Answer: parapatric speciation
c)This type of sympatric speciation results from a genetic event such as polyploidy or heterozygote disadvantage which results in the reproductive separation of two populations.
Answer: stasipatric speciation
5. Answer the following about the Great Wall of China FTPE.
a)This first Ch’in emperor used the labor of hundred of thousands of soldiers and conscripted workers starting in 214 BCE to link pre-existing wall segments together to form the Great Wall.
Answer: Ch'in Shih Huang-ti
b)The Great Wall was built largely to guard against invasions from this nomadic group, which often attacked China in forces of as many as 300,000 horsemen before disappearing in the 5th century.
Answer: Hsiung-nu
c)The Wall's current state of disrepair results largely from the fact that this dynasty, which succeeded the Ming dynasty, was more interested in assimilating other nationalities than in keeping them out.
Answer: Ch'ing or Manchu Dynasty
6. Name the following existentialist philosophers FTPE.
a)Initially a psychologist, this man emphasized the importance of freedom of being in works like Man in the Modern Age and Philosophy of Existence.
Answer: Karl Jaspers
b)This one-time fiancé of Regine Olson is regarded as the founder of existentialism for works like Stages on Life's Way and the Concluding Unscientific Postscript.
Answer: Soren Kierkegaard
c)Influenced by Kierkegaard, this Swiss theologian maintained that faith eliminates the separation between God and man in his four-volume masterpiece Church Dogmatics.
Answer: Karl Barth
7. Name these players in the Enron fiasco FTPE.
a)This former CEO and chairman of Enron resigned his post on January 23.
Answer: Kenneth Lay
b)This accounting firm served as Enron's auditor and is under scrutiny for shredding documents related to Enron's financial status.
Answer: Arthur Andersen, LLP
c)This man, who was Arthur Andersen's chief auditor until he was fired, recently invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked in a recent Congressional hearing whether he ordered the destruction of Enron documents.
Answer: David Duncan
8. Name these literary characters who undergo changes in gender FTPE.
a)The Virginia Woolf title character who changes sex.
Answer: Orlando
b)This seer from Greek myth changes sex when he observes two snakes copulating.
Answer: Tiresias
c)This Shakespearean character doesn't actually change sex, but disguises herself as a young man named Cesario for most of the play.
Answer: Viola
9. The following three differential equations from physics are each named after two people. Name them FTPE.
a)This second-order equation is obtained by minimizing the action functional in classical mechanics. It is equivalent to a system of first order equations that is named for William Hamilton.
Answer: Euler-Lagrange equation
b)This system of equations describes the velocity and pressure of fluids. Setting the viscosity equal to zero in these equations yields the so-called Euler equations.
Answer: Navier-Stokes equation
c)This third order nonlinear partial differential equation is used to model waves in shallow water. Its "soliton" solutions are of considerable interest to PDE theorists.
Answer: Korteweg-de Vries equation
10. Answer the following about events leading up to the American Revolution FTPE.
a)This Congress convened at the outset of the French and Indian War adopted Benjamin Franklin's proposal of a union of the British North American colonies.
Answer: Albany Congress
b)A major colonial grievance with Britain in the 1760s was the existence of these "writs," essentially general search warrants used by the government to enforce trade laws.
Answer: writs of assistance
c)On June 10, 1772, Rhode Islanders boarded and burned this British revenue cutter, which had run aground in pursuit of smugglers.
Answer: HMS Gaspee
11. Answer these questions about the early days of Zionism FTPE.
a)What Austrian journalist is considered the founder of political Zionism?
Answer: Theodor Herzl
b)What African site was proposed by the British for the Jewish state? Though Herzl was in favor of accepting the offer, the Russian delegation to the 1903 World Zionist Congress opposed it.
Answer: Uganda
c)In 1897, what city hosted the first world Zionist Congress?
Answer: Basel
12. Answer the following about a sociological concept FTPE.
a)In contrast to Gemeinschaft and usually translated as "society," this ideal type of social organization is found in industrial societies and features impersonal, indirect human relations.